Jeyna sleeps for a long time before he speaks to her again. His voice eases her mind to awareness, even as she lingers in unconsciousness.
Do you feel that?
She tries to focus, to understand what he is referring to. But she doesn't detect anything, and sleep is addling her ability to use her senses.
…Focus…
Her hand reaches out, finding the metal wall of the ship. It's cold beneath her fingers, but there is something else. A vibration that is missing where it had previously been.
The engines have stopped. You've landed.
Her eyes snap open, finally fully awake, and she is startled to find herself standing. Her hand still rests against the wall, and she drops it immediately. Had she been sleepwalking? Had he somehow caused it to happen? Jeyna's alarmed as she regains her grip on reality, surveying the dorm to see the blankets she'd been wrapped in are trailing off the cot, onto the ground.
"Kylo?" she asks aloud. There is no response.
Her stomach cramps painfully with hunger, and she can ignore it no longer. She spots the food the pilot had dropped off, and though it is basic ship rations, it spurs her on. She forces it down, before drinking the water he left with it.
Jeyna immediately feels better, less dizzy and more level headed. She glances down at her wrinkled clothing, and thinks longingly of the bag of clothes they'd brought on board for the mission. Was it still out there? Would they let her get something clean before she went in the refresher?
She strides forward, banging loudly on the dormitory door. There is no answer. She waits for a minute, then two, before raising her hand again. Before she can slam it onto the door with impatience, she hears the lock release.
"Miss Torre," Aleck greets her, swinging the door open. "I'm glad to see you look much better."
She nods, admitting to herself that she is at least more settled feeling. She still isn't sure how she feels towards Aleck in light of his deception, even if it was intended to assist her. But she brushes aside the uncertainty for the moment. "I was hoping to get some clean clothes."
"Of course," he concedes. "But I was hoping you might consider talking to someone, first."
"Who?" she asks, curious. If Ren is right about the ship having landed, who could have boarded already?
Aleck gives his small smile at her eager response. "General Leia Organa."
Jeyna feels taken aback by the title, recognizing it. Leia Organa had been a princess, of Alderaan, before it was destroyed. She'd stepped down in favor of becoming one of the leaders of the Alliance. She was one of the most famous women in the galaxy, known for her grace and determination.
While Jeyna had avoided a lot of the propaganda surrounding the opposing forces, she'd read considerably on General Organa, finding the woman to be impressive.
She's filled with nervousness at the thought of meeting her, face to face. Aleck seems to sense it. "I assure you, the meeting is informal. She wishes to talk to you about a personal matter."
That only serves to stun her further, as she wonders what personal matter such an individual could have with her. She nods, words evading her, and follows Aleck down the narrow passage towards the main hold. There, she's met with the sight of the General. She looks regal, her hair swept up in an elegant design. She's speaking with the pilot, but he pauses when he catches sight of Jeyna.
Leia Organa turns, and scrutinizes her. She feels a blush creeping into her cheeks at the careful way she is scanning her, eyes seeming to search for something.
Jeyna swallows heavily, wishing she'd thought to straighten her appearance. The other woman finally smiles, a small, nervous gesture. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jeyna," she says, sweeping forward and reaching for her hand.
Jeyna gives it, unsure what to do. She's taken aback when the General takes it in both of hers, squeezing gently. The motion is almost fond, affectionate. "It's nice to meet you too, General Organa," she chokes out.
"You can call me Leia." The older woman gestures to the small meeting table in the middle of the hold. "Would you care to sit? We need to talk."
Jeyna attempts to breathe deeply as she approaches one of the chairs, trying to settle her nerves. Leia waves a hand slightly at Aleck and the pilot. Each one disappears, the pilot back to the cockpit, and Aleck towards the main hatch.
Silence falls over them, as Jeyna watches the former princess sit gracefully across from her, her hands coming to rest on the table between them. Her face is collected, but her expressive eyes capture Jeyna's again, searching, before she asks, "How are you, Jeyna?"
Her eyebrows quirk up at the question, surprised by the genuine care in the other woman's voice. "I'm… I'm okay," she answers hesitantly. "I was a little…surprised, by everything. A lot has happened recently. But I'm feeling a lot more… calm, now." She stops her rambling to shrug slightly, unsure how else to explain. Her world has been a careening whirlwind ever since Stormtroopers marched her off of Dantooine.
Leia gives a very small nod, her eyes looking saddened. Jeyna waits for her to say something else, uncertain what to do. The General moves, leaning forward, her face suddenly showing more emotion. She looks to be torn, between restraint and distress.
"Has my son hurt you? Has he…been forceful, with you?" she asks, tone transforming into despair. Her careful control vanishes, it looks like uttering the questions nearly breaks her. Her hands move on the table, as she clasps them tightly together.
Jeyna flushes at the awkwardness of the question, understanding how it is intended, even as her lips part in confusion. Her son?
The older woman seems to understand the miscommunication, explaining in a trembling voice, "My son's name is Ben Solo. But you know him as Kylo Ren."
Jeyna's breath leaves her in shock. Kylo Ren is the son of the Resistance leader, and former princess of Alderaan? How could it even be possible?
She realizes Leia is still waiting for an answer, and she stumbles over her reply, trying to make sense of the news. "No-No, he hasn't hurt me. Or…been forceful."
The relief that surges through Leia at her words is visible, her face relaxing from the terror and pain that had been hovering on it. "He was always a sweet boy. Though I don't know how much of that remains…"
"How did he…" Jeyna cuts herself off, unsure how to continue. How did he end up defecting to the enemy? How did his life swerve so terribly in the direction opposite of his own mother? "How did he end up with the First Order?" she finally ventures.
Leia's lips quiver before she presses them more firmly together. She takes a deep breath, before she answers. "We sent him off, too young. He was so powerful, we only wanted to help him. But we should have waited. I think he mistook it for rejection. Especially after what happened with his father."
Jeyna presses, "His father?"
"His father was a smuggler," Leia clarifies. "He had a hard time letting go of that, even after Ben was born. He liked to go back to his old haunts, relive memories. I indulged him, from time to time. I loved him, and it made him happy."
Her eyes drift down towards her hands, and Jeyna sees as she clenches them once more. The movement reminds Jeyna of the woman's son, the fists he forms to stave off outward signs of any emotion.
"But one time he took Ben, when he was just a little boy," she continues, sadness filling her eyes. Eyes that are familiar now to Jeyna, in their expressiveness. "Han didn't know how the smuggler's moon would affect him. By the time Han got him home, he was hysterical. Inconsolable. It was days before he talked again."
Jeyna's mouth falls open in horror at the bad memory, suddenly understanding his hatred for Nar Shaddaa. And she suspects she has filled in the mystery regarding the abandoned apartment they'd stopped in.
"Han was so excited to have children. But he didn't know how to handle Ben. He thought he was a failure as a father. He would leave for longer and longer trips, after that. Ben thought it was his fault, even when I tried to tell him it wasn't." Leia looks close to tears, her eyes dragging away from the table entirely, to focus somewhere to the side. Her voice is ragged with emotion. "And his power was only getting stronger. He scared the other children. He scared everyone, the way he always knew what you were thinking, and feeling. We only wanted him to learn control. So, we sent him to my brother, Luke."
Jeyna recognizes the name in relation to Leia immediately. "Skywalker," she adds quietly. Luke Skywalker was a famous Jedi, before he had disappeared from space. No historians knew of his location, or if he was even still alive.
Leia nods, pulling her hands back into her lap. "Luke was going to train him to be a Jedi. I don't know what happened between them, but it wasn't enough. Ben fell, to the dark side. And Luke, blaming himself, went into exile."
Jeyna is overwhelmed by the secrets of Kylo's history, and the details Leia has shared. But she can't help herself from disagreeing quietly with his mother. "I don't think he has fallen completely," she says. She is struck with the memory of his hands trembling after the massacre on Dxun. The way his kisses could be so sweet, affectionate. She'd seen openness and warmth in his eyes before, though it was fleeting. She isn't convinced that he is a lost cause.
Leia is searching her eyes, face plain in its desperation. "Have you seen him? Ben? Not the mask he wears?"
Jeyna understands, her stomach sinking in horrified clarity, that Leia isn't referring to the physical helmet. She means to imply that Kylo Ren is the mask that Ben Solo wears. Tears spring to Jeyna's eyes for what feels like the tenth time in as many hours, pained by the insight into his existence.
"I think so," Jeyna whispers uncertainly, not daring to speak louder. Just admitting it aloud makes her nervous, terrified at the thought of losing him back into whatever protective shell he'd crafted. She knows now why she had felt so awful being snatched off of Nar Shaddaa. The feelings are real, and they come from her, not some mind trick. She needs to get back to him, the desire to be with him painfully strong.
But she's let down when Leia seems to disagree moments later. "Then we made the right decision, taking you when we did," she says, her tone smoothing out after the emotions that had previously rocked it.
Jeyna stares at her, dismay writing itself plainly on her features. Leia sees it, and frowns sympathetically. "Our intelligence informed us that Snoke wants you dead. We can't allow that to happen," the older woman explains softly. "I have to protect you from my son, for my son. If Ben kills you, I fear we might lose him forever. That would be a darkness he could never pull away from."
She sighs slightly in response to Leia's words, even as she knows they are true. "And you don't want him to find whatever the maps lead to, right?" she ventures. "Snoke wants whatever Revan left behind."
Leia nods once. "Yes. Though I fear we might have made some concessions on that front, in favor of acquiring you."
Jeyna gives her an inquiring look, and the older woman's face grows sorrowful. "We couldn't recover the droid. We had to pull our forces. As soon as he felt Aleck's betrayal, he flew into a rage. He would have slaughtered them."
Her heart pounds at the thought, and she licks her lips nervously. Had he found the next section of the map? The next holocron, if there was one? Or did he have the complete star map? Would he tell her, if that were the case? His words to her only seemed to come while she slept, and they were singularly focused.
"What if he has the whole map, then? What do we do?" she asks.
Leia stands, coming around the table towards Jeyna. "You let us worry about that," she reassures. Jeyna stands, surprised when the older woman pulls her into a firm embrace.
She freezes for only a moment before returning the gesture, understanding that the conversation has given her hope as a mother. The scent that clings to Leia's robes only registers in Jeyna's subconscious, a distinct but also vague freshness, tinged with salt. Something in her mind grabs onto the observation, obsesses over it.
Leia's released her, and they are pulling apart when the word leaves Jeyna's mouth in confusion. "Ocean…"
The older woman's eyes darken in realization. "What did you just say?"
Jeyna's brow is furrowed as she repeats herself. "Ocean…? You smell like the ocean?" Is that what she had realized? Did it matter?
Leia's face turns panicked as she shouts for Aleck. "You need to get her off this planet, now!" she calls, as he comes rounding the corner into the main hold.
"Why? What's happened?" he asks.
"He knows!" Leia says, voice taut with stress. "He's figured it out."
